The City of Kigali will on Monday open a public bus terminal that will serve up to nine routes to help reduce the number of passengers queuing on roads, especially in downtown Kigali.

The terminal has been set up opposite Kigali Central Prison (1930), according to the head of infrastructure development at the City, Ruben Ahimbisibwe.

"In some areas, there was total disorder. There were no dedicated routes for a particular stage and this resulted into long passenger queues,” he said.

This exposed passengers to rain, scotching sunshine, or even accidents, he added.

Ahimbisibwe said the new terminal has been equipped with basic facilities like public toilets and shelter, plus a police post to help maintain law and order.

However, he clarified that the new terminal was not a park where buses have to wait until they are filled before they can take off.

"The continuous circulation arrangement by the buses around town will remain; at the terminal, buses will drop off and pick the passengers available before heading out,” said the official.

The routes to be serviced by the new facility are City–Kagugu-ULK-Kinamba (coded as 313), City–Batsinda-Kagugu-Fawe-Gakinjiro-Kinamba (coded 303), City-UTEXRWA-Kinamba (coded 301), City-Kuryanyuma-Kimisagara-Yamaha (coded 402) and City-Nyacyonga-Gatsata-Yamaha (coded as 403).

Others are City-Nyanza–Gatenga-Rwandex (203), City-Nyanza-Zion temple-Rwandex (202), City-Rwerankoli-Nyenyeri SGEM-Kiyovu (205) and City–Remera taxi park-Sonatubes-Rwandex coded as 101.

After the terminal is opened, the bus stops at the former Eto-Muhima, Sulfo factory and one at the Rwanda Energy Group offices will be closed.

Decongesting city

Apart from the bus terminal, Ahimbisibwe said the city is seeking other measures to improve public transport within the city.

"We are seeking other ways to complement the bus terminal to improve public transport including putting in place different infrastructure to reduce traffic jam,” he said, adding that they were also considering having special ways for public transport vehicles.

Concerning decongesting downtown Kigali, the official said they are planning to discourage individual parking lots for private cars, encouraging people to use dedicated public car parks.

"We have prohibited parking at the main roundabout and at the Rubangura House. There is also a plan to increase parking fees so that people can start using public transport while downtown,” he said.

He added that there is a study being carried out in partnership with Koreans to set up a mechanism that will electronically manage traffic flow, as it is the case in the Korean capital, Seoul

Joanah Mutesi Gashumba, a driver, said the new terminal is more strategic when compared to other options.

"I think it is more comfortable and safer since there is a police post to ensure our security, and there are supermarkets around,” Gashumba said.

Emmanuel Dushimimana, a driver with Rwanda Federation of Transport Cooperatives, said it was good that the terminal has basic sanitation facilities.

Currently, buses for the three companies operating in public transport within the City of Kigali carry between 500,000 and 600,000 passengers daily.